Chris Matthews Skewers Kevin James

It's bad enough to be thought an ignoramus who is just parroting talking points but really has no idea what he's talking about. It's quite another to be exposed as such in as dramatic and undeniable a way as Chris Matthews does to radio host Kevin James. If you prefer a written account, you can read a transcript here.

Basically, Kevin James wants to be indignant about Barak Obama's foreign policy positions, and tries to defend a comment George Bush made referencing Neville Chamberlain. The problem is that Chris Matthews jumps on him about what exactly Neville Chamberlain did wrong, and all James can do for three excruciating minutes is parrot "appeasement!", "appeasement!" like some demented political Polly. Jason Rosenhouse summed it up perfectly:

"This is right-wingerism laid bare. It's all about parroting mindless venom. James doesn't have the faintest idea what Neville Chamberlain actually did to earn his reputation, but he knows that appeasement is a bad thing and that it's something he can use to tar Barack Obama. Calling someone an appeaser is something he's learned how to say, in precisely the same way that your average dog can be taught to respond to basic commands. It probably never even occurred to him that he would ever be called on his ignorance of basic history."

For those who wonder why I've become so disenchanted with Republicans, here is Exhibit A: a loudmouthed know nothing chanting political slogans while having not the faintest knowledge of what he's talking about. And what is it with conservatives these days screaming every word? Ever listen to Mark Levine? How about Dinesh D'Souza's debates? It's as if they think whoever speaks the loudest wins, regardless of how contentless what they are saying is. People like that deserve zero intellectual respect, which is why that is exactly what they get from me.